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Chapter 4. Working on it

The creation of chronological time in political discourse and the democratic meaning of elections
  • Liron Lavi
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Time Representations in the Perspective of Human Creativity
This chapter is in the book Time Representations in the Perspective of Human Creativity

Abstract

Following elections, processes of interpretation in the political discourse shape the meaning of elections. I draw from theories of democracy, time, and meaning to posit the concept of chrono-work, and suggest that creative construction of connections between past, present, and future horizons shape the meaning of an election, and that this process is critical for the democratic meaning of elections. With a qualitative analysis of media discourse in two case studies – the 1949 and the 1988 Israeli elections – I show that when these connections form a chronological narrative, an election obtains a democratic meaning, whereas when the narrative is non-chronological, an election’s democratic meaning is challenged. I discuss the implications for the role of creative time for the democratic role of elections.

Abstract

Following elections, processes of interpretation in the political discourse shape the meaning of elections. I draw from theories of democracy, time, and meaning to posit the concept of chrono-work, and suggest that creative construction of connections between past, present, and future horizons shape the meaning of an election, and that this process is critical for the democratic meaning of elections. With a qualitative analysis of media discourse in two case studies – the 1949 and the 1988 Israeli elections – I show that when these connections form a chronological narrative, an election obtains a democratic meaning, whereas when the narrative is non-chronological, an election’s democratic meaning is challenged. I discuss the implications for the role of creative time for the democratic role of elections.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Preface vii
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Part I. Time and creativity in language
  6. Chapter 1. A corpus-based look at time metaphors 15
  7. Chapter 2. Time moves more often in poetry 41
  8. Chapter 3. What is time? 61
  9. Chapter 4. Working on it 81
  10. Part II. Beyond language
  11. Chapter 5. Creative visual metaphors of protracted and frozen time in autobiographical comics about depression 101
  12. Chapter 6. Time-creation in film 125
  13. Chapter 7. Beyond the limits 147
  14. Chapter 8. From “slow lettuce” to “striated time” 163
  15. Chapter 9. Physical and imaginary landmarks in English time gestures 187
  16. Chapter 10. Time in Chinese hands 209
  17. Epilogue. Creative to whom, and on what basis? 233
  18. Index 243
https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.75.04lav

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Preface vii
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Part I. Time and creativity in language
  6. Chapter 1. A corpus-based look at time metaphors 15
  7. Chapter 2. Time moves more often in poetry 41
  8. Chapter 3. What is time? 61
  9. Chapter 4. Working on it 81
  10. Part II. Beyond language
  11. Chapter 5. Creative visual metaphors of protracted and frozen time in autobiographical comics about depression 101
  12. Chapter 6. Time-creation in film 125
  13. Chapter 7. Beyond the limits 147
  14. Chapter 8. From “slow lettuce” to “striated time” 163
  15. Chapter 9. Physical and imaginary landmarks in English time gestures 187
  16. Chapter 10. Time in Chinese hands 209
  17. Epilogue. Creative to whom, and on what basis? 233
  18. Index 243
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